Chapter 2 : Demon Hunting (3)
Chapter 2 : Demon Hunting (3)
<Activating 1st-rank magic: Ignite.>
Hwareureuk.
The demons that had revealed their true forms and the demons in the shape of pregnant women that had been hiding until just a moment ago were instantly incinerated.
"Kyaaaaak-!"
The demons still maintaining the shape of pregnant women shrieked.
Even while doing so, the way they clutched their bellies tightly clearly showed just how malicious these creatures were.
Deltain glared at the knights with the pillar of fire at his back.
Marquis Montvert smiled gently and calmed Deltain down.
"Don't push them too hard. It's their first real battle, so they're nervous."
"Demons don't go easy on you just because it's your first battle."
"That's why I brought you along."
Deltain glared at Marquis Montvert with an angry face.
However, he clicked his tongue, "Tsk," and moved on.
"It's certain that there are demons here."
"Since there's a Demon of Craving, wouldn't there be a breeding ground too?"
"Clean it up yourself. I'm only going to kill the named ones and leave."
"I'll keep that in mind."
Marquis Montvert said that and signaled to the knights.
The knights, who had been stiff with tension, finally let out small sighs of relief and followed behind the two.
A light that could be felt as both fear and awe lingered in the knights' eyes.
Of course, it was directed at Deltain.
*
The method of tracking demons was simpler than expected.
You just find a demon, and then find the place where more of them are gathered, and that's it.
Of course, simple didn't mean easy.
In fact, more than half of those who set out to hunt demons proved this by failing to realize the true identity of the first demon they encountered and becoming its prey.
<Activating 1st-rank magic: Ignite.>
That was why Deltain was phenomenal.
Because among all those he had met so far, he was pinpointing and burning only the demons to death.
It was something the knights couldn't understand, but for Marquis Montvert, it was a familiar scene.
'He's reliable.'
Deltain Hebron is a perfectionist.
He is also a man who never tolerates defeat.
Because of such eccentricities, he was a man who became stronger than anyone else when it came to the target of demons.
After all, since there's no gap in his heart, the demons' bewitchment couldn't possibly work on him, could it?
"There are more than I thought."
"Indeed."
"I remember hearing that you were cleaning them out periodically."
"We did. Up until just last month. These demons all appeared within the last month."
Deltain's brow furrowed.
This was because Marquis Montvert's words were a rather bad omen.
"That means it's a dangerous bastard."
"Do you understand now why I called you?"
"Anyway, all the troublesome work is my share."
The speed of demon reproduction depends on the 'status' of their leader.
The number of demons encountered since entering the underground waterway is already in the triple digits.
The fact that all of these were created in just one month means that the demon ruling them is a demon of that high a status.
'Is it Gaias?'
Deltain continued his train of thought.
Then he shook his head.
'No, I don't feel any particular danger yet for it to be Gaias.'
It was a guess with its own basis.
This was something he could tell just by thinking about when he obtained 'No. 1 Chambler's Dream'.
A high status befitting the title of a DLC boss.
Considering the flow of mana that changed from the moment he entered his domain, it makes no sense for Gaias, another DLC boss, to be this weak.
'The quest definitely said it was a clue to Gaias.'
It meant that the clue was all he would get here.
Chalbak-.
A sound arose as Deltain stepped into the muddy water.
The footsteps of Marquis Montvert and the knights followed behind him.
Deltain clicked his tongue, "Tsk," and snapped his fingers.
<Activating 2nd-rank magic: Flare.>
Ppong!
The head of one of the knights exploded along with the flames.
The bodies of those nearby jolted greatly at that.
There were no screams or anything of the sort.
The knights swallowed dryly as they confirmed that the corpse with the exploded head immediately turned into a lump of red flesh.
"Hey, you guys better manage your personnel properly."
Demon of Conflict.
It was a demon that deceived human perception to infiltrate a group and then cause cracks from within.
That was it.
Deltain had identified it just by the number of footsteps he heard.
"Marquis, I guarantee you, those bastards will all be dead within the year."
"They will use today's incident as nourishment and be more thorough next time."
"I'm sure they will."
After walking while having such conversations looking down on the knights.
Only then did their destination appear.
"This is the problem with demon bastards. They have no aesthetic sense."
Deltain muttered that and looked at the huge door in front of him.
No, he looked at the pile of human corpses shaped like a door.
"Ugh...!"
One of the knights retched at the disgusting sight.
However, Deltain didn't blame him this time.
Since it was their first demon hunt, and the first time facing a high-ranking demon's lair, it was indeed that disgusting.
Deltain examined the door closely with indifferent eyes.
The mass of corpses forming the door was, without exception, stripped of clothes.
And joints were intertwined here and there.
The parts where someone's arm was inserted through a hole with a jaw dislocated, parts where a person's head was stuck between a woman's legs, and all the parts where someone else's leg was sticking out and dangling from a pierced solar plexus were enough to evoke instinctive disgust in humans.
"Marquis, I'm using it."
"You mean 4th-rank?"
"It's a high-ranking demon."
"Understood. I will report it."
Deltain said that and relaxed his hand.
The reason he went through the trouble of having this conversation just to use one spell was nothing else.
It was because he was a person who needed 'agreement' to use magic above a certain rank.
It was natural.
The seventh Archmage in the continent's history.
If you strip away the praise from that title, Deltain was no different from a walking disaster.
The 4th-rank magic, which is the condition for being an Archmage, was that dangerous.
Of course, from Deltain's perspective, it was an agreement he could break whenever he wanted, but he was following that agreement quite faithfully.
There was no particular reason.
There was simply no benefit in making enemies with them just to show off his pride.
"Get back."
Mana released from Deltain's body and pressed down on the space.
The knights' breath stopped at that pressure.
Marquis Montvert didn't look very calm either.
No, because he was a 3rd-rank mage, there was a pressure he felt even more vividly.
1st-rank magic reproduces phenomena.
2nd-rank magic manifests fiction.
3rd-rank magic manifests cognition.
And 4th-rank.
It was the realm of interfering with time and space.
<Accessing Cartridge.>
Black holes rose around Deltain.
Deltain reached into the hole, grabbed an object, and pulled it out.
The object that stuck out was something only Deltain in this world would know the true identity of.
It was a handgun.
<Summoning Weapon No. 3: Magnum.>
Click-.
Immediately after the firearm was loaded once, Deltain aimed it at the door.
It was a scene that would make anyone who knew the identity of this weapon tilt their head.
Because Deltain's action of trying to break the door with just a single handgun seemed so foolish.
However, there was something those people needed to keep in mind.
This was a world where the mystery of magic lived and breathed, and Deltain was someone who had reached the pinnacle of that mystery.
It was correct to view this thing shaped like a handgun not as a physical firearm, but as a weapon in which high-level mystery was concentrated.
This was a work that realized the essence of a firearm by using the 4th-rank concepts of time and space.
It never loses the speed of 900m/s.
No matter what angle it is fired from, it heads toward the initially targeted object.
Thus, it makes the concept of 'pulling the trigger to kill the enemy' an absolute truth.
This was a more lethal weapon than anything else to demons who could only utilize their authority within the scope of being a living creature.
The following scene felt somewhat cliché.
Deltain pulled the trigger, and with a "Bang!" sound, a bullet made of mana was fired.
And the pile of corpses hit directly by it collapsed with a rumble.
The sound of blood splashing, and then there was something visible behind the open view.
Two lumps of flesh that reminded one of a woman's breasts.
And long, gaunt arms sticking out from the nipples of those lumps of flesh.
Four pairs of eyes on the palms at the ends of those arms.
<Facing High-ranking Demon Protogenia.>
It was a high-ranking demon.
Deltain swallowed his disappointment.
'It's a dud.'
It was disappointment he spat out because, even though he knew it wasn't, he had secretly hoped that the demon would be Gaias.
"There's no easy way."
The demon looked at Deltain with its four pairs of eyes.
Deltain felt a momentary sensation of his vision blurring whitish.
What began to be seen as a translucent silhouette was a truly lewd scene.
Deltain snorted and looked at it.
'It was a Demon of Lust.'
Perhaps the root of the demon called Protogenia was connected to lust.
So the illusion it showed would also be within that range.
Beauties of all races, scantily clad, hugged Deltain's body.
And they caressed his body with care.
The sensation tickled Deltain as if it were real.
There were flushed breathing and moans, and wet fluids as they rubbed against him and clung to him, but Deltain didn't budge an inch.
"Moron."
Deltain felt the tattoo on his forearm throb and aimed the gun again.
And he pulled the trigger again.
Tang-.
Deltain's arm shook once from the Magnum's recoil, and immediately after, all hallucinations vanished along with a bizarre scream.
At the end of Deltain's gaze was a lump of flesh that had lost its vitality and was sprawled out.
<Activating 1st-rank magic: Ignite.>
Hwareureuk-.
Protogenia's body melted into the flames.
Deltain shoved the Magnum back into the cartridge and headed to that spot.
'A clue.'
There would be a clue.
Thinking that, Deltain rummaged through Protogenia's corpse for a long time, and after a not-so-short time, he found what he was looking for.
Deltain's golden eyes sparkled.
'Found it.'
A small jewel was embedded right below the part where Protogenia's left nipple and arm had been growing.
Deltain reached out, rummaged through the flesh, and pried the jewel out.
<Obtaining Mark of Master and Servant.>
It was a quite meaningful reward for Deltain.
Since the Mark of Master and Servant is a contract made when high-ranking demons determine their hierarchy, considering the content of the previous quest, he could immediately figure out who the owner of this mark was.
'Gaias.'
He would be able to approach that demon.
Deltain's head lifted.
His gaze turned to Marquis Montvert and the knights behind him, who had been dazed until just a moment ago.
Immediately after, a blatant sneer appeared on Deltain's lips.
"Pfft...!"
Deltain's shoulders shook.
His gaze was still directed at the knights.
To be precise, it was directed at their flushed faces and, for some reason, their closed legs.
"They came. Morons."
It seemed they had come while caught in Protogenia's hallucination in the meantime.
The knights' heads dropped.